History/Political Science paper by Niessen, James P.
Send us a Planeload! Catholic Organizations and the Resettlement of 56ers
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
The recent focus of the author’s multi-year project on Hungarian refugees after the 1956 Revolution has been on religious identity and relief organizations. The refugees were diverse and included many without strong religious attachments. However, voluntary agencies (as they were then called) provided much-needed support during the emergency, especially for resettlement to the US. Catholics were the largest religious cohort among the refugees and provided the most generously funded and staffed agencies as well as most of the resettlement sponsorships required under American law. “Send us a Planeload!” was the title of a story in the Resettlement Newsletter of Catholic Relief Services. It captures the generous enthusiasm of American Catholics for the refugees, which was a blend of the era’s characteristic anti-Communism, identification with the travails of their church under Communist rule, and the dedicated service to refugees of people like Fabian Flynn, Eileen Egan, and James J. Norris. This talk will examine the activity of the Catholic agencies and their contribution to the resettlement process.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
James P. Niessen earned his Ph.D at Indiana University with a dissertation on religion and politics in Transylvania during the 1860s. He has published various studies on Hungarian religious history, libraries and archives, and most recently on refugees from the Revolution of 1956. He is World History Librarian at Rutgers University where he is subject librarian for five academic programs and coordinates collection development for the New Brunswick Libraries, external public member of the Hungarian Academy, and currently serving his second term as President of AHEA. Many of his publications are accessible at http://soar.libraries.rutgers.edu/bib/James_P._Niessen/. niessen@rutgers.edu